Kidnapped Fil-Chinese trader in Cotabato freed

A Filipino-Chinese businesswoman kidnapped nine days ago in Maguindanao province in southern Philippines was released by her captors before dawn Sunday, a police spokesman said. Jinky Yap, appearing thin and pale, was fetched by lawyer Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi, city administrator of Cotabato City, at Barangay Tambonan in Talayan, Maguindanao at around 2:10 a.m., according to national police spokesman Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. “The victim was observed thin and pale on her appearance. She was traumatized and can hardly talk," Cruz said in a text message to reporters. Yap was then brought to Cotabato City at about 3:30 a.m. and presented to Cotabato City Mayor Japal J. Guiani, head of the crisis management committee that handled the negotiations for her safe release. “After a close door meeting/debriefing with Mayor Guiani, victim was brought by her family to their family doctor for medical attention," Cruz said. Yap was kidnapped last April 1 while she was manning her ALY General Merchandise Store along Sinsuat Avenue in Cotabato City. She was eventually brought to Kabuntalan in Maguindanao. - KBK, GMA News